Development of Local Community Foundations

What are community foundations (CFs)?

Local community foundations are grant-making organizations the activity of which is limited to the territory they belong to. They raise funds from the business and individuals to finance social initiatives on the local level. CFs aim to build reserve funds to become sustainable and independent. Through the CFs’ activities philanthropy gets a local focus and becomes a force that unites communities.

The history of CFs dates back to 1914 and is connected with John D. Rockefeller. Today the model of CF is used worldwide; about 1,200 organizations of the kind work in different parts of the world, demonstrating the universality and sustainability of this model of philanthropy.

Both small towns and big cities can develop philanthropy through their own community foundations. Throughout the world, such foundations are transforming the faceless «municipalities» into local communities that connect people eager to improve the place where they live.

The sources of funding for the CFs can vary: for example, in America the money generally comes from wealthy individuals, and in Europe corporations are the main investors.

CFs also attract small donations from individuals, part of their programmes receive funding from the local authorities. The idea of a CF helps to unite the community, including the business, the local authorities and the people and creates “good neighbourhood”.

Thanks to the efforts made by CAF there are about 30 active CFs in Russia. We were first to bring this model of local philanthropy to Russia. We were also co-founders of the first Russian CF — Togliatti Community Foundation, which was founded in 1998. Since then CAF has been supporting CFs in Russia, providing the necessary advice and funding.

Since 2000, CAF has been conducting research on development of CFs in Russia, and has issued a series of publications on the subject. CAF put a lot of effort in formation of the expert pool for the CFs and has been a co-organizer of national conferences of the CFs since 1999.

With our support in 2003, 26 CFs formed the CF Partnership. Russia attained a high level of development of CFs making it the fourth in the world rating after the USA, the UK and Germany.

In today’s Russia business is playing the key role for sustainability of local philanthropic institutions. CFs are an effective solution for companies wishing to support social initiatives in the regions of their presence.

Not only business, but also the local authorities can initiate establishment of CFs in their regions and contribute to the effective functioning of these organisations. The CF model has a number of strengths making it a reliable tool for dealing with social issues on the local level.

CAF has successful experience of consulting and development support provided to over 100 foundations and initiatives in Russia and abroad. Our experts are internationally recognized professional consultants and can come up with tailored solutions for each CF project.

CAF’s legal expertise is based on profound knowledge of Russian NPO and philanthropy legislation, which allows us to provide legal support to charitable projects and organizations on the highest professional level.

Our professionals serve as trainers in conducting training programmes for staff at CFs using CAF’s own hands-on experience and the best international practices in the sector.

Participation in the International Community Foundation Network

CAF is a member of the largest international association — Transatlantic Community Foundation Network (TCFN). The experience gained by CAF Russia in the development of local philanthropy is recognized worldwide. Since 2003 our experts have been providing consulting support to CFs in the Baltic countries within the Baltic-American Partnership Programme. The programme is aimed at mobilizing resources for development of non-profit sector on the local level.

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is one of the largest foundations working in the field of development of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector worldwide represented in Russia. We are pleased to support the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s effort to create sustainable mechanisms for local philanthropy in the regions of Russia. Since 1995 with the financial support from the Foundation we have chanelled over $ 1.5 million for development of Russian CFs.